Coming up for air

Chew Mail Pouch Tobacco……

It struck me today that the blog has been neglected for far too long.  And honestly I’d rather not be sitting at a computer screen right now typing away, as I seem to do that all the time now, but it’s about time for an update.

A month and a half has gone by since I started work out here in WV and OH.  And during that time a lot has changed.  I came to do one thing, but find myself doing something totally different than what I expected.  But that’s okay with me.  You roll with the situation and adapt.  Fortunately what I’m doing now harkens back to my old days in wireless.

Everything is a process

I’ve always been good at understanding workflows and process.  It’s why my Lightroom classes were so good.  I could see the process from point A to point B, and I could explain it in plain terms to students.  The same could be said for my network engineering days.  I identified processes, documented them, and taught many folks about network engineering.  And once again in this new job I came in, learned the processes and workflows, and I’m now designing a management system for the company.

Databases.  Me and databases.  Since my first job with Sprint I find myself always designing process management software for whoever I’m working with.  And once again, after arriving and learning about the business model I’m working with I’m designing yet another database to manage the workflow for a group of folks across several states.  Go figure.

My own personal process and progress

Personally I’m settling in and finding a groove again.  Interestingly enough, I haven’t forgotten anything about programming, database design, and all the rest of what I used to do.  It’s like riding a bike, once you know it you know it.  It’s nice to see that I’m still the guy I was before the major detour occurred in my life.

After getting sick back in 05 I remember wanting to get back to “work.”  But feeling the way I did, fighting with the long term infection and all the side effects caused by it, I honestly didn’t feel like myself.  And I wasn’t.  My immune system was a mess, I was always tired, etc, etc, etc.  Pondering the idea of going back to a real tech job terrified me back then.  Not because the work was beyond me.  But because I couldn’t put my standard 100% into it.  Yes, I’ve been told that me at 50% is like most people at 100%.  But when you set a bar for yourself and know you can’t make the goal due to external factors……well, you don’t even want to try.

When I got my health back in 2010 it was amazing.  Feeling like myself again was wonderful (and it still is).  But 5 years of being out of the tech industry, struggling to make my business work, I had some self doubt.  I had a lot of self doubt.

Fortunately the past few weeks have washed all that doubt away.  I’m still the guy I was.  As a matter of fact I’ve still got mad design and database skills.  Too cool!

So, things are moving ahead.  I’m enjoying what I’m doing.  Long days, working when at home, pressure, urgent matters…..yeah, I dig it.  Nice to be back.  Nice to know that through the trials of the past few years I’m still the guy I was before.  Puts a smile on my face to say the least.

I’ll try to update more regularly.  Once phase one of the new system is in place I might not mind typing at the computer so much……